Good morning. I'm going to call to order this meeting the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. It is
Thursday, March 19th and we'll begin with our public statement read by Commissioner Madera.
We, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners, renew our commitment to welcome and protect the rights
of all people, regardless of age, race, color, creed, disability, sexual orientation, gender,
gender identity, marital status, economic status, and national origin. And we affirm the right of every
person to live peacefully and without fear. And we will fight and resist at every step discrimination
and harmful policies, whatever their source. We believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
We also stand in support of our county public school systems, both RBB and MCCSC. All right, thank you
so much. We'll now move on to our department updates. Ms. Kelly, good morning. Good morning, commissioners.
According to the Indiana Department of Health, as of March 17th, COVID wastewater concentrations are
continuing to trend down. Flu activity across the state is still high.
The health department does still have combo flu A and B and COVID tests available for free. The public
can walk in Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to receive free tests. Currently, the Morgan
County Health Department has vaccines available. The public can call 765-342-6621 for an appointment.
Thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner Madeira? None. Thank you so much for the update.
Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Thank you very much. Thanks for being here. Next, we have our veteran
service officer, Stephen Rehler. Good morning, commissioners. I wanted to share a story, a veteran story
with you this month. I've been sharing some with you by email, and I wanted to come to this meeting
and share this in person.
So this month, I'm proud to share a story of a veteran I personally served with. She's an extraordinary
person who faced her challenges with the same gumption she brought to her service. From firsthand experience,
I can tell you she was the tip of the spear. And seeing the VA deliver for her is exactly the kind of
outcome that makes this work worthwhile.
Activated by the Indiana Air National Guard, serving as a mobilized Hoosier Guardsman, performing Title
10 federal missions from Holman Field in Terre Haute, Indiana, the National Geospatial Intelligence
Agency in St. Louis, and ultimately the United States Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt
Field in Florida. She served as an imagery intelligence analyst supporting combat operations through
the distributed common ground system for over a decade, day in and day out.
several years she was my direct report when I served as the flight chief of the imagery intelligence
analysis flight at home and field. It's rare that I get the opportunity to assist someone that I actually
served alongside so this made this case especially meaningful for me. It's just a little emotional even
telling the story today. Her work was critical. She directed
Her actions directly affected life or death decisions on the battlefield. She monitored full motion
video from armed predator and reaper unmanned aircraft in real time, often for hours on end, extracting
actionable intelligence that guided combat missions and protected troops on the ground. Years of sustained
exposure to these high stress operations led to severe service connected PTSD.
which ultimately made it impossible for her to maintain steady employment after leaving the military.
She attempted work in college, but the effects of her condition made it impossible to sustain either.
We submitted a complicated claim for total disability based on individual unemployability. Last month,
the VA granted the claim
recognizing that her service-connected condition prevents her from maintaining substantially gainful
employment. She'll now be compensated at the 100% disability rate, which is about $4,000 a month, providing
long overdue stability for her and her daughter. Cases like this are a reminder of the work that we
do in this office isn't just about paperwork. It's about helping that individual and their families
on the other end.
So thank you for your attention today. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. It's a amazing story.
And where can veterans and their families get in touch with you if they have similar circumstances or
need assistance with claims? Absolutely. I welcome all calls from Monroe County residents. Please call
812-349-2537. We're happy to help in any way we can.
Thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. That's just a very good story
to hear. Thank you. Senator? As a military brat myself and the likely parent of one in the near future,
thank you very much. And this is not the first story that we hear. Thank you for sending us regular
updates in our email. And they're always something I look forward to receiving. Thank you. Terrible
circumstances, but you really
you really help so much and that's your role and and you do it well and and you and your staff so thank
you so much thank you so much i really appreciate your time huge community impact it is it's a big community
impact a lot of veterans in minero county yes all right uh let's move on now to public comment uh this
is time reserved for items that are not on our agenda uh if you wish to make public comment you may
come up to the
or raise your hand on teams. All right, seeing none, we'll move on to our next agenda item, please.
Yes, I would like to move approval for the minutes of February 9th, 2026, February 16th, 2026 and March
12th, 2026. We have a motion and we have a second.
Any comments, corrections, or edits? I think I forwarded them. Okay. All right. All those in favor of
approving the February 9th and February 16th executive session minutes and the March 12th meeting minutes
signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please.
I would like to move approval of the claims docket for accounts payable for March 19th, 2026 and for
payroll for March 20th, 2026. Second. We have a motion and we have a second, Ms. Guyer. Good morning.
The accounts payable claims docket for March 19th, 2026 totals $10,476,000.
Sorry, messed it up. $10,470,851.86. This includes all emergency claims and adjustments. The payroll
docket for March 20th, 2026 includes $1,639,930.76 indirect costs and the remaining $696,683.74.
were for indirect costs for a grand total of $2,333,614.44. Thank you so much. Comments or questions,
Commissioner Madeira? I have none, thank you. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Any public comment on
this item? You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving accounts payable, March 19th, 2026 in payroll, March 20th,
2026 signified by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. I will note that we have received a report
from the treasurer for February 2026 and with that we'll move on to new business, please.
I would like to move approval for sound management memorandum of understanding funds named JDA programming
funds number ninety one forty five in the amount of three thousand six hundred and eighty dollars second.
We have a motion we have a second. Good morning. Good morning. I'm here pinch hitting for Christine
McAfee while she enjoys spring break.
So we recently requested an amendment to our JDI grants to allow us to spend some money that would have
went unspent. And frankly, that's because some of our programs and services are being underutilized.
And so we're asking rather than returning those funds to shift them to a community wide radio partnership
that will allow us to better communicate the full scope of the services and the programs that we have
available through our grant, not only just to the justice involved youth, but the entire community as
a whole. So our goal is to hope increase awareness, improve access to the programming and strengthening
our connection with the broader community. And with that, I'll entertain any questions that you have.
Thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner Jones?
Just I know that you do have lots of very valuable programming. And hopefully, this will help more people
hear about it. Here? None. Just I echo my colleague, Commissioner Jones. And I think that this is people
still listen to radio. And we forget that. But this is incredibly valuable. Thank you. Thanks for doing
this. It's a good idea.
Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the sound management memorandum of understanding signify
by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for being here. All right,
next item please. Yes, I would like to move approval for super solution service agreement fund name,
LIT special purpose.
fund number 1114 in the amount of $3,400. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. I don't know
that we have anyone here from YSB to tell us about it, but it is a cleaning contract for the Binkley
House Emergency Shelter and thus is necessary. Any comments from my colleagues, Commissioner Jones?
I don't know. Commissioner Madeira? No, but judging from what I know about my house and the state it
gets, I can testify to how necessary a deep clean is quarterly on a quarterly basis. So I can firmly
attest personally to the need for this. So there is no doubt in my mind. And there's no doubt that $3,400
seems like a very reasonable sum for $800 per quarter. So yeah, absolutely. All right. And then an additional $200 for
and carpet that's the yeah yes all right um let's see if there's any public comment on this item you
raise your hand on teams or come to the podium glad we didn't get any questions i wouldn't be able to
answer uh with that all those in favor of approving the super solution service agreement signify by
saying aye aye motion carries three zero next item please
I would like to move approval for resolution 2026-03, updated Monroe County ADA transition plan. Second.
We have a motion. We have a second. We have Mr. Schilling joining us. He's not on break yet. Thank you
very much. Dave Schilling from the legal department. And this resolution, 2026-03, and then the subsequent
resolution on your agenda, 2604A and B relate to the ADA
the county's ADA plan and the county's Title VI plan conducted a hearing on both of those plans last
week and report that no one has provided any comment regarding the plan during those hearings or subsequent
to those hearings. However, if anyone has comments, they may contact the ADA coordinator or the Title
VI coordinator at any time.
and also note that the staff groups that work on these plans are going to be meeting in June to see
if there's any revisions that need to be made and they'll do that every year so we can we can stay on
top of this. So this resolution the ADA transition plan appoints the employee services director as the
ADA coordinator and just
spells out the county's duties with respect to compliance with the ADA, and it includes our self-evaluation,
which we've gone through the buildings and inspected them for ADA compliance, and any deficiencies are
noted and scheduled for repair. And once we adopt each of these plans, we will be sending them to the
Indiana Department of Transportation who monitors this.
and so that we can continue to obtain federal funds. Sounds great. Thank you so much. Comments or questions?
Commissioner Madure? I have none. This sounds, I appreciate all the hard work that went into this. And
I think this will be great to have this done. It's very, very necessary. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't.
I appreciate having an update and all the work that continues to go into identifying issues and correcting
them. And we can see the list in the plan as well by building. Any public comment on this item? You
raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. It looks like we have a commenter, Ms. Douglas. You'll
have three minutes. Please give us your name and county of residence.
Thank you so much. And this is just very impromptu. Maria Douglas, Monroe County resident, of course,
and Monroe County Women's Commission member, among other things. But also, I just wanted to let you
all know that Monroe County has received, as of last night, some state recognition
for your ADA compliance in terms of providing a hybrid meeting and in terms of providing closed captioning.
And I do want to take this time to remind everybody that ADA compliance is the foundation or let's say
ground floor, right? That's what's, you know,
called for by law, but I think that we can probably, as Monroe County, do even better to provide
accessibility, especially to local government meetings and information. Thank you so much. Thank you,
Ms. Douglas. We appreciate that. And yeah, it's the bare minimum. I agree. And we always strive to do
more. So any other public comment on this item?
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving resolution 2026-03 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
3-0. Next item, please. Yes, I would like to move approval for resolution 2026-04, A and B, Monroe County
Title VI non-discrimination plan and policy. Second. We have a motion and a second. Mr. Schilling.
Thank you very much. This is the Title VI plan that we had a hearing on last week. There's two components
to it. There is the plan, which is 2026-04A, and then 2026-04B, which occurs on page 15 of the plan,
is the policy statement.
this today that you sign both the resolution form that you have the second page of that and then turn
to page fifteen on the plan and sign that resolution part B as well. Thank you so much comments or questions
commissioner Jones. No I don't. Commissioner Madera. No I think it's just a great reminder especially
now that these items are very in concepts policies are incredibly important.
Absolutely, for sure. Let's see if there's any public comments on this item. And again, I will note
that there weren't any comments on this document from the public at our hearing or since the hearing,
but anytime anybody's willing, you know, wants to ask a question, they can contact us. Correct. And
the Commissioner's Assistant, Angie Purdy, is the Title VI Coordinator at this time. Great. Thank you so much.
Seeing no public comments. All those in favor of approving resolution 2026-04A and B signify by saying
aye. Aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Thank you very much. All right, next item, please. Yes, I would like
to move approval for item E, notice of consent to use land. Second. We have a motion and we have a second.
Yes, Miss Carney is a resident of spice would to neighborhood and she's expressed a desire to go on
to a piece of property currently owned by Monroe County for the purpose of cleaning the property debris
as well as planning pollinator garden. She's also applying for a grant through the city.
And she believes that the city is going to require some contract showing that she has the authority
to enter this land for the purpose of cleaning debris as well as playing this pollinator garden. So
we prepared a notice of consent to use land for her to be able to use in her application to the city,
which is due I believe on Monday. So we're, we're hopeful to get this passed and signed today. Great.
Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Medeira? I would just thank Miss Carney for her
willingness to do this. This is an amazing project. And this is nothing. Our property gets beautified.
And the neighborhood really gets to enjoy it. And pollinators get the benefit of it. And it's a huge
win-win-win. And thank her for stepping forward and doing this and applying for the grant and taking
the time and trouble and effort. So thank you. For sure.
Commissioner Jones. Yeah, this is actually something that's very important. Worldwide, the insect population
is crashing. There's been very little attention paid to this, but insects actually are what allow us
to grow the foods that we eat. And much, much more than that, it's affecting bird populations that eat
the insects.
to see this worldwide disruption in the insect population is really very frightening in many ways. And
every little bit that anyone can do to support insects is very worthwhile. I hope a lot of people will
start planting a lot of plants that attract pollinators. And this may be something to highlight that.
That's excellent, excellent point. Yes, thank you to Ms. Carney for approaching us. And thank you to
our legal staff for pulling this together quickly, very quickly. And I encourage the city of Bloomington
to award this grant. And it is neighborhood beautification, environmental support. It is, as my colleague
says, a win-win-win.
So excellent, excellent idea and so grateful that she and the residents came up with this. So very,
very good. All right. Comment on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the notice of consent to use land, signify by saying aye.
Aye. Motion carries three zero. I would like to move approval for the amendment to the 2024 Sophia Travis
Community Service Grant for Redbud. Second. We have a motion and we have a second, Mr. Roddy. Yes. In
December of 2024, Redbud books received a Sophia Travis
community service grant to fund their youth programming for the calendar year 2025. Due to various issues,
including some performers that canceled, they were unable to expend all those funds. A few weeks back,
the Sophia Travis Grant Committee met and approved recommending that Redbud have until the end of this
calendar year to spend the remaining grant fund. The amendment before the board would extend the time
for them to expend those funds.
Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? This seems very reasonable. Commissioner
Madeira? Yes, absolutely. Our goal is to see these grant funds used and very reasonable. All right.
Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
see none. All those in favor of approving the amendment to the 2024 Sophia Travis Community Service
Grant for Redbud signify it by saying aye. Aye. Carries 3-0. Next item, please. I would like to move
approval for ordinance 2026-07, 3521 South Roger Street Rezone. Second. We have a motion and we have
a second. And I believe we, yes, we do. We have Mr. Myers joining us.
All right, one moment, please. There he is. Oh, you got muted again. That happened. All right, one moment
while I get this set up here. It's been a busy day in the office today. Surprising given spring break.
It's like everything is done. Yeah, maybe.
All right, thank you for your patience. And I've got my screen here and slideshow. All right. So this
is the 3521 South of Roger Street rezone from PUD to RES. It is at 3521 South Roger Street and it is
in Perry Township section 17. So the petitioner is actually the planned commission in this case. The
way that this came about was staff was working with a property owner regarding this
particular parcel and was discovered that the zoning on this property was incorrect. The property was
zoned PUD Summersbee and through some research into the Summersbee PUD as well as the Summersbee subdivision,
staff recognized that that zoning classification for this particular parcel was incorrect. So the request
from the Planning Commission is to rezone this particular parcel from the PUD Summersbee classification
to Residential 1.
and this is to correct that error in the zoning map. The Summersbee PUD ordinance legal description
does not include this land area as part of the PUD and there's an exhibit in the packet that details
this. The subdivision plat for the Summersbee subdivision also does not show this particular property
within that subdivision. Another piece of evidence as to why this zoning classification is incorrect.
Another piece of evidence, a map created by the city of Bloomington in 2004 shows that the petition
site has zoned RM15 and not the PUD summer speed. So all this considered, the site does have CBU sewer
access. There is an existing two-family dwelling on the property that does have sewer connection and
there is sewer lines that cut through the property as well.
Through conversations with the property owner and their intentions for developing the property, they
have provided information that they were interested they are wanting to further develop the property
and possibly add more dwelling units. However, that main consideration of connecting to sewer has been
a challenging aspect for them as CBU has stated that they will not extend the sewer services for further
development on this property.
Right, so this is located also in the Clear Creek watershed and the comprehensive plan has it as designated
mixed residential. So here's the location map. We're in Perry Township, as I said, right off of South
Rogers Street. Bachelor is to the southwest. And then on the right, we have the zoning map. You can
see the gray there showing that it's zoned PUD, which is incorrect.
and a lot of the area around it is zoned high development residential, and the plan commission is requesting
the residential one district. The property is approximately 1.01 acres. Here we have a site conditions
map. You can see the green lines there. Those are the sewer lines that I was speaking on earlier. We
have the Bloomington Rail Trail to the east. Something to consider,
with respect to this particular property is House Bill 1058. I'm unfamiliar if any further movement
has occurred on House Bill 1058 since the last I reviewed this petition, but essentially House Bill
1058 was proposing that a property that has contiguity with a unit of government, specifically like
the City of Bloomington, that contiguity can occur through a railroad corridor.
It is staff's understanding that the Bloomington Rail Trail would act as a piece of land that could
create that contiguity for voluntary annexation. But that is the extent that I know of this House Bill
1058 and its relationship with this property. The property owner themselves expressed possibly an interest
in going through that if House Bill 1058 were to be made into law,
But at this time, that is the extent of my knowledge with respect to this. Here we have some photographs.
This is South Rogers Street. There's a driveway entrance onto the property. And then on the right, you
can see the driveway onto the property and the dwelling in the back. And then here's some more photographs
of the property. Again, South Rogers Street there and showing that existing structure on the property.
and then just a few more photographs of the site. All right, now we have on the screen ordinance 92-43,
which established the Summersbee PUD. And in its legal description, again, as I stated, it does not
incorporate this particular parcel of record.
Here on the screen is the Summersbee subdivision. Again, you can see that it does not show the inclusion
of the parcel of this particular parcel. It should be down here to the south of the subdivision and
it is clearly not incorporating it into the boundaries of this subdivision. Here we have the map that
I mentioned earlier from the city of Bloomington that does show the existing parcel of record.
and it being zoned RM 15 back then. And then now on the screen I have the information from the county
development ordinance with respect to the residential one district or RES, including all of its primary
uses and general development standards. We can come back to this if there are any questions. We did
have a letter of support from the property owner. This letter of support came
during the portion of the process where the recommendation was to rezone the property to the high development
residential to match in line with the surrounding properties. However, through the Plan Commission review
of the site, it came to fruition that the recommendation will be to rezone to residential one based
on various factors through those Plan Commission discussions.
Property owner was initially interested in the high development residential that would have coincided
with some of their development goals, but it was ultimately the plan commission acting as the petitioner
for this corrective rezone and their choice to rezone the property or recommend rezoning the property
to residential one.
Okay, so staff gave a positive recommendation and the plan commission forwarded it to the board
of commissioners with a positive recommendation as well with no conditions of approval. So now I'll
take any questions if there are any. All right, thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner
Medeira. I have none. Thank you for the detailed explanation as always. Commissioner Jones. Yeah, this
is a mistake that needed correcting. Thank you for doing it. For sure.
And we had asked for the one acre zoning because of the lots, the way it sits and its shape. It's pretty
much the only thing that could be done with that property under our CDO. So we'll see what happens after
this. I appreciate planning staff's attention to correcting this error. Let's see if anybody
wishes to offer support, public comment in support of this petition. You can raise your hand on Teams
or come to the podium. Anybody wish to speak in opposition to this petition?
see none. Any final comments or notes? Commissioner Jones, Commissioner Madera. All those in favor of
approving ordinance twenty twenty six dash zero seven signify by saying aye. I motion carries three
zero. We don't have any appointments today, but it's a good thank you, Mr Myers. It's a good time to
remind folks that we do have some
board and commission openings that continue which include the library board and animal management and
the health board so if you have any interest please go to our website and take a look around in fact
there's right on the landing page of our website there is information about boards and commissions and
how to apply. And while you're at our website, we have office hours available six times each month.
Just go to the calendar, look it up, and click on the Teams link to share your comments, issues, concerns,
phrase, whatever it may be.
We always appreciate hearing from residents. And there is also a county alert notification system. Again,
that's at in.gov slash county slash Monroe. You can sign up for notification about emergencies, including
weather. And we are in springtime, so that's a good thing to do. And you can receive those notifications
by text, phone, and or email.
The next blood drives are Wednesday, April 8th and Thursday, April 9th. Wednesday, April 8th, 1 to 6 p.m.
Thursday, April 9th, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. These are held at IB Tech. Thank you, IB Tech. In rooms C130A
and B, we ask that you go to redcross.org.
To make an appointment. We are always in need of blood products in our community Else for the good of
the order All right, we do not have a work session and our next meeting will be March 26 right here
in the net you hill room at 10 a.m. And with that we are adjourned. Thanks everyone and